''Fatty and Mabel Adrift'' is a 1916 Keystone short comedy film starring

Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle (; March 24, 1887 – June 29, 1933) was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He started at the Selig Polyscope Company and eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked w ...

Mabel Normand Amabel Ethelreid Normand (November 9, 1893 – February 23, 1930), better known as Mabel Normand, was an American silent film actress, screenwriter, director, and producer. She was a popular star and collaborator of Mack Sennett in their K ...

, and

Al St. John Al St. John (also credited as Al Saint John and "Fuzzy" St. John; September 10, 1892 – January 21, 1963) was an early American motion-picture comedian. He was a nephew of silent film star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, with whom he often performed on ...

Plot

The story involves Arbuckle as a farm boy marrying his sweetheart, Normand. They have their honeymoon with Fatty's dog Luke, at a cottage on the seashore. At high tide that night, Al St. John (Fatty's rival) and his confederates set the cottage adrift. Fatty and Mabel awaken the next morning to find themselves surrounded by water in their bedroom, and the house afloat.

Cast

Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle (; March 24, 1887 – June 29, 1933) was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He started at the Selig Polyscope Company and eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked w ...

as Fatty *

as Mabel *

as Hiram Perkins' son *

Joe Bordeaux Joe Bordeaux (March 9, 1886 – September 10, 1950) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1914 and 1940. He was born in Colorado, and died in Los Angeles, California. Selected filmography * ''Mabel at the ...

as Henchman * Jimmy Bryant as Henchman *

Glen Cavender Glen Cavender (September 19, 1883 – February 9, 1962) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 250 films between 1914 and 1949. Biography Glen Cavender was born in Tucson, Arizona, and died in Hollywood, California. He start ...

as I. Landem, Realtor *

Luke the Dog Luke the Dog (19131926) was a Staffordshire Terrier that performed as a recurring character in American silent comedy shorts between 1914 and 1920. He was also the personal pet of actress Minta Durfee and her husband, the comedian and director Ro ...

as himself * Frank Hayes as Mabel's father * Wayland Trask as Brutus Bombastic, Chief Criminal *

Mai Wells Mai Wells (14 April 1863 – 1 August 1941), also billed as May Wells and Mae Wells, was an American actress whose career spanned eight decades. A prolific actress of the silent era, she worked with Charlie Chaplin, made at least two films w ...

as Mabel's mother (as May Wells)

Critical response

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' in its 1916 review gives the film a positive review, commenting that "the picture is amusing with some new and good effects, without the customary dose of messy

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...

one expects in a Keystone with these principals.""Fatty and Mabel Adrift" (film review) in '' Variety Weekly''. February 4, 1916. As was often the case in contemporary reviews of Arbuckle films, the direction of the film is singled out for praise, although it is not mentioned that Arbuckle himself is the director. The review mentions "a dandy lightning storm is a feature of the film and there are some pretty views of breakers rushing on to the shore." The review also contends that Al St. John's performance is not as good as his usual work for Keystone but adds, "The picture is a sure laugh maker and as it is fairly clean, it is the more worthy." ''Fatty and Mabel Adrift'' was the closing movie of the 56-film Arbuckle retrospective at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in April and May 2006. Prior to the presentation of this short, the event's curators cited the film as their favorite of Arbuckle's screen productions."Rediscovering Roscoe: The Careers of 'Fatty' Arbuckle"
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Manhattan, New York, April 20May 15, 2006; curators' comments archived in MoMA's schedule of film offerings at that event. Retrieved February 27, 2021.

References

External links

*
Fatty and Mabel Adrift - Movie short

Fatty and Mabel Adrift
available for free download a
Internet Archive
1916 films 1916 comedy films American silent short films Silent American comedy films American black-and-white films Films directed by Roscoe Arbuckle Keystone Studios films Triangle Film Corporation films Films shot in Fort Lee, New Jersey 1916 short films Films with screenplays by Roscoe Arbuckle American comedy short films 1910s American films 1910s English-language films {{1910s-short-comedy-film-stub

Plot

Cast

Critical response

See also

References

External links